Vanished
by sonicking2004
Summary: *Warning: May contain content too scary for younger audiences* After her wedding, Judy had hoped for some time to enjoy her matrimonial bliss in peace. However, when a bold crime shakes the city to its core, she and her partner Nick must cut their honeymoon short to hurry back to Zootopia. Can they solve this case before it's too late?
**Vanished**

Mayor Gazelle sighed deeply as weariness made her eyelids rather heavy. This had been one rather long and tiring day. She had figured that, when she first started running for mayor just over two years ago, that there would be much more work involved than she'd ever experienced as a performer, but she never imagined that there would be so much paperwork involved in _everything_. Of course she supposed she could have delegated some of the paperwork to her secretary (or to her Assistant Mayor, as her predecessor Lionheart had done before her) but there was simply some things that she preferred to do herself. Of course she supposed she could have saved herself had she not utilized her executive powers to make yesterday's event possible, but that, at least, she had not the slightest regret about. In fact, thinking back on it made Gazelle smile.

The fact was that Gazelle had really liked Judy since she'd arranged the first meeting with her and then-Officer Nick Wilde, perhaps a bit more than she should, and she'd caught herself silently wishing that she'd met Judy _before_ Judy met Nick, as Gazelle felt that they could have gotten along rather well. However, Gazelle reminded herself that would've been impossible, that it was their working together to save the city from Bellwether's scheme for power, as well as their continuing good work for the city of Zootopia, that had prompted her to contact Chief Bogo to arrange a meeting with them face-to-face. Besides, Judy might not have become the amazing person Gazelle had come to care so much for had it not been for her work together with Nick, and apparently Judy had a rather strong, positive influence on the street hustler-turned-police officer.

At any rate, Mayor Gazelle was glad that she had got a chance to meet Judy and that they became such good friends so quickly. While she had a huge number of fans since the day she first set foot on stage ages ago, Gazelle had never had anyone who she could really call a friend, someone who cared enough to learn about the real her, let alone who would stay with her once they learned what laid beneath the public mask she wore. While Judy certainly had the makings of "just another fan", it soon became apparent that her time on the force had shaped her into much more than that, and she didn't shy away from her when real Gazelle turned out to be different than the singer everyone fantasized over. That true, honest friendship, together with how Judy and Nick saved this beautiful city that she loved, made Gazelle glad that she was able to give Judy such a beautiful wedding, even though it meant more paperwork for her now.

As she finished signing the last of the papers, Gazelle set it on top of the others stacked before her and laid the pen down the desk, slumping back with a hearty sigh of weariness. Taking a moment to rest before contacting her head of security to let him know that she was done for the day & ready to head home, Gazelle's restless eyes roamed around her office until they settled on a desk over in the corner, upon which a damper was thrown on her mood. Gazelle recalled when she first received the threatening letters which she now had stowed out of sight in the drawer in that desk her entire security team, including the security head Gustave, had urged her to turn them over to the police immediately, but Gazelle had declined to do so. After all, this wasn't the first time she'd experienced something like this, having dealt with stalkers and the like, and her loyal security team has always kept her safe before, so she wasn't about to let whoever was behind these ones uproot her life this time either.

Besides, the thing that this guy or girl seemed to have an issue with was certain articles in her political agenda, particularly her support of Judy and Nick's wedding. If she had turned these in before, then Chief Bogo would have said that she would need to stay under constant guard, probably even going so far as to say that she could only attend the event by watching it through a closed-circuit TV or something (which would have certainly put a damper on the festivities). Judy especially would have insisted that they postpone the wedding until they found and apprehended the one responsible for sending these correspondences. Gazelle, however, had been confident that her security team would be up to the task of keeping everyone there, including herself, safe while remaining low-key enough to not draw attention to themselves and letting everyone else enjoy themselves. Thankfully that seemed to be the case, as nobody showed up who wasn't supposed to be there and nobody caused any problems at the wedding either (other than Nick himself having a brief idiot moment, but that's a groom for you, right?)

Of course now that the wedding was over, and Nick and Judy were off on their honeymoon, there was nothing stopping her from turning those letters over to the ZPD. Of course Judy was going to be rather mad once she found out, but Gazelle was only thinking of her happiness. Besides, it's not like this guy had done anything about his threats after…

Just then the lights went off in her office, not even the digital clock functioning, and the room was plunged into complete darkness. She stood sharply, startlement speeding the breath in her chest, and she looked around the room futilely for a minute before she felt around for the phone she knew was on her desk. When she put the handset to her ear, however, she heard no dial tone coming from it.

"You should have heeded my warning," Mayor Gazelle heard a low voice say from the darkness before her, startling her into dropping the phone. Her heart hammering loudly, Gazelle focused on where she heard the unfamiliar voice coming from and she spotted a pair of eyes gleaming in the darkness. "Who are you?" Gazelle asked the stranger, trying to keep the panic from her voice and failing miserably, "How'd you get past security?"

"Those men couldn't possibly keep me from my holy mission," the low voice responded, sending a thrill of fear down her spine.

"Mission?" Gazelle asked him, making no sudden movements & praying that someone was realizing that something was wrong and now on their way, "What mission?"

"To save this city, of course," the stranger answered her, "Your unrestrained 'progressive' ideas are like a cancer eating away at the heart of our fair town. That is something that Zootopia can do without, and so it can do without a leader like you!" Gazelle then felt her scream trapped painfully in her chest as the mysterious figure leaped towards her with a roar.

* * *

As Gustave came to, the first thing he noticed was how his head was pounding as though he was experiencing the worlds worst hangover, something he hadn't went through since his collage days. As he tried to get the world to settle around him, he saw how dark it was around him & that the other security personnel were in varying states of arousing. This struck Gustav immediately as very wrong, as City Hall's emergency generators should keep the place lit even during a blackout. "Mayor? Are you okay in there?" Gustave called out towards her office as he braced himself against the wall. When he heard no response, Gustave felt a hard knot settle in the pit of his stomach and he staggered towards the door on his wobbly legs as staggered towards the door, calling out again, "Mayor Gazelle? Are you there!?" Opening the door, Gustave felt a chill drape heavily over his muscular frame as he saw the room was completely empty, the papers on the clawed-up desk being blown about by the wind coming in through the open window.

* * *

 _Life doesn't get much better than this_ , Judy thought contentedly to herself as she relished the feel of the warmth of the rising sun on her face, the soft grass beneath her back, the gentle wind blowing through her fur. The quiet solitude here was such a sharp contrast to the hustle and bustle of the city that it was rather soothing. In fact, there was only one thing that would make this moment better.

Judy heard Nick's footsteps approaching before she heard him clear his throat and say, "You look rather content there, Mrs. Wilde."

Judy opened her eyes and smiled up at him as she said "I am, now that you're here."

Nick smiled at her reply, and as she sat up and patted the ground beside her Nick sat down. Allowing herself to lean into Nick's warmth, Judy sighed and said, "It's so peaceful here. I feel like the weight of the city is falling of my shoulders in waves."

"Yeah, this is a pretty nice place here that you picked for our honeymoon," Nick agreed, "though personally I feel that the beach would have been more romantic."

"Are you kidding?" Judy asked him with an impish quirk of her eyebrow, "The beach is hot, it's humid, and it's bound to be crowded with tourists this time of year, and after hunting for that perp through the dunes of Sahara Square for three hours last week I've had my fill of sand for a while."

"Well, yeah, I admit I found that to be a bit annoying as well," Nick conceded, "Of course there is also scuba diving, para-sailing, enjoying Piña Coladas at sunset…"

"Hmmm," Judy sighed contentedly, finding the picture Nick was painting in her mind to be not unpleasant, "Maybe for our second honeymoon."

Nick chuckled good-naturedly as he asked, "Already talking about a second honeymoon, are we?"

Judy looked deep into his eyes and said, "Sure, and I hope we can also talk about a third," Judy punctuated her pause with a kiss, "and a fourth," and another kiss, "and a fifth…"

Nick smiled warmly and slowly stroked her ears laid flat behind her head, sending waves of pleasure rippling throughout her body, as he said, "Carrots, I like the way you think."

Judy chuckled bashfully and considered kissing him again, to render him as breathless as he is doing to her right now. However, before she could act on her impulse she was interrupted by a sharp ringing from her pocket. Judy remembered with some annoyance that, because this cabin is so far away from the nearest town or any other residences, there was no phone lines stretched out this far, the only power here to this place supplied by a power generator. It was for this reason that she and Nick had brought along their cellphones, just in case of an emergency. Of course she hadn't imagined that anyone would interrupt them this early into their honeymoon, though she was impressed that Tiger-Mobile's claims on their 4G LTE coverage weren't exaggerated.

Her annoyance grew as the ringing continued until with a sigh of resignation Judy finally pulled the phone out of her pocket. The moment that she saw the ID of who was calling, however, Judy's annoyance vanished and she stared at her phone in shock. Of all the people she might have expected to contact them here, especially this early into their honeymoon, Chief Bogo was so far down towards the bottom of that list that he was practically not even on it. After all, when she and Nick had originally applied for enough vacation time to cover a three-day, two-night honeymoon, it was Chief Bogo who insisted that they take a week instead, assuring them that he'd authorize the paid time off, and that he could keep the city from falling apart until they got back. So for him to be calling them here this soon must mean that something truly serious must have happened.

Feeling a knot of dread in the pit of her stomach, Judy put the phone to her ear and answered, "Good morning, Chief. What's up?"

"Morning, Detective Hopps," Judy heard the Chief greet her in a grave tone, and Judy felt an urge to correct him on her new married name before she recalled that they would, for simplicity's sake, be continuing to use her maiden name while at work (since Nick was also "Detective Wilde") to avoid confusion. "I'm sorry to be contacting you at this hour, especially since guys had just gotten settled in over there," Chief Bogo said regretfully, "But I'm afraid that we've got a rather serious situation over here."

"I gathered that already, Chief, so it's okay," Judy assured him, "So what is it?"

"It's….well….it's Mayor Gazelle, actually," Chief Bogo said hesitantly, "It seems that she's gone missing."

"WHAT!?" Judy practically yelled into the phone, and she felt Nick jump slightly in response to her sudden volume, "Just what do you mean by 'missing'?"

"Just as it sounds, I'm afraid," the Chief answered her, "It looks like it just happened last night, and what we've found indicates that she might have been abducted, but I'm afraid that we know not much more than that. Now I know you just started on your honeymoon, and I'll understand if you'd rather let one of the other detectives handle this case instead, but…"

"No, that's okay," Judy cut in quickly, "We'll be heading back straight away."

"Thank you," Chief Bogo responded gratefully before disconnecting the call, leaving Judy staring at the phone in shock. Mayor Gazelle, kidnapped? How is this possible!? Judy could have understood this possibly happening back when Gazelle was still just a performer, but now? City Hall was one of the most secure buildings that Judy knew of, so how did someone manage to snatch Mayor Gazelle from _there_?

Finally, as she thawed out enough to slip the phone back into her pocket, Judy looked back at Nick, who let loose a sigh of resignation as he said, "Looks like this honeymoon's on hold." The he stood and dusted himself off as he turned and said, "I'll go gather our things in the cabin together."

Judy felt her gut twist in guilt that she'd inadvertently thrown a damper on today by agreeing to return without thinking to ask Nick about it first. Nick, however, turned and laid a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile as he said, "It's alright, Carrots, my hearing's not quite as good as yours but I still heard everything, so I understand. Even if it wasn't that the mayor in in real trouble, which means our home's in trouble, the fact is that Gazelle is still our friend. When our friends are in trouble, we always go to help them out no matter what, right?"

"Right!" Judy told him, giving Nick a grateful smile, then she stood and followed him back into the cabin.

* * *

As Gazelle came to she felt rather disoriented, but she could tell that she was sitting in a hard, wooden chair and that she had her arms bound tightly behind her back. She could also feel a heavy weight across her eyes, as if a blindfold was tied over them. As she became more aware of her surroundings she noticed that the air here smelt rather stale, but there was a faint, rather flowery smell. However, rather than improving the smell of this place it instead made her feel rather ill. She didn't understand why that was until she recalled that she smelled that same flowery odor much more strongly when her unseen assailant attacked her in her office, and it was as that fragrance overwhelmed her senses that she blacked out.

She didn't hear anyone around, so she figured that she was alone right now. Just as she tried to work her hands free, however, Gazelle heard a metallic scraping as if a large metal door was sliding open just before a clang that indicated it was closed again. As the sounds of approaching footfalls echoed in the space around her, Judy heard a voice say, "Oh, you're awake now. Good, I was afraid I might have made the mixture too strong and accidently put you into a coma or killed you prematurely. It was designed to knock your guards, after all." Gazelle didn't recognize the voice at first, so his words confused her, but then she realized her attacker must have been wearing a mask that night that probably threw off the sound of his voice.

"Who are you?" Gazelle asked him, hating the tremor in her voice that betrayed the fear that she felt, "What do you want with me?"

"I already said" the smooth voice that she figured belong to her abductor replied, "I wish to protect this fair city of ours. I had thought that, after you stood up for predators' rights, that you would understand and do what's best for everyone." Gazelle felt a chill itch its way down her spine as she heard a metallic scraping that she recognized as the sound of sharpening a blade on a stone, and the man continued, "I had sent you so many letters telling you why the marriage between that rabbit and that fox was wrong, what it could do to this city and its morals, advising you to not support it. I didn't exactly expect you to stop it yourself, as I hear that you and Detective Hopps are friends, but you could have at least let it fall apart on its own."

When the scraping stopped and she heard the footsteps come towards her, Gazelle trembled in fear and she fidgeted as her captor said calmly, "But now it's too late: the damage was done. Since you made sure that the 'event' was covered widely by the media, so many people here and elsewhere will be filled with impure thoughts that this sort of union is right and justified. I'm sorry, but now I must follow our Lord's commandment and set this city back on the path of righteousness. To do that, an example must be made."

As he finished speaking, Gazelle felt through her fur her neck being tickled by what she figured to be the edge of a knife. Though it was barely touching her now, Gazelle could tell that it was sharp enough that it wouldn't take much pressure for it to slice through her fur and skin. "Please!" she pleaded with him, her tears starting to make her blindfold damp, "Don't hurt me!"

"You don't have to worry. Even if I wasn't on a holy mission I'm still not a cruel man," she heard him respond, and she released the breath she didn't realize she was holding as he removed the blade from her neck and walked away a couple of steps before he said, "When the time comes I'll make it quick. I doubt you'll have time to feel much of anything."

Gazelle felt herself grow very cold as she realized this man intended to kill her, and his assurance that he'd make it a quick and supposedly painless death wasn't much of a comfort to her. However, her mind fixated on something he said in particular, " 'When the time comes'?" Gazelle asked in confusion.

"As much as I wish otherwise, your death alone won't be enough to accomplish my mission," the man explained to her, resuming the sharpening of his blade, "Even if I were to leave behind a detailed litany of your sins, your death could still be misconstrued by some as having been for some other reason. No, as important as your sacrifice is to saving the souls of Zootopia, there's one other role you can only fulfill while alive: bait."

Gazelle didn't like the sound of that, and her mind went blank as she trembled and stammered, "I-I-I-I don't under…"

"Of course I was very careful to not be too obvious, as it's harder to trap someone if they _know_ it's a trap," her captor continued, acting as if he hadn't heard her, "and I made sure to not make the clues too easy to find, as we don't want the wrong people finding them and showing up over here. However, I'm sure that the one who solved the case of the Night Howlers just days after joining the force, a case that had stumped the entire ZPD for two weeks, would have no trouble in following my trail of bread crumbs here."

"Judy," Gazelle breathed in shock, her breath freezing in her chest.

"Yes," the man agreed, "Detective Hopps truly is a real prodigy and a valuable asset to our city. Perhaps if you'd been a better friend, if you'd advised her against her reckless course of action, that she could have had a long and illustrious career. Oh well, at least I'm sure her superiors will ensure that she receives a funeral befitting the 'hero of Zootopia'."

"No!" Gazelle hollered at him desperately, "Leave Judy alone!"

"You don't have to worry about mourning you friend for long," the man said as he stopped sharpening his blade and, from the sounds Gazelle heard, set it and the whetstone on something like a table, for you will be following shortly along after her." Gazelle then heard him walk away from her and back out the door.

As the echoing clang signaled to her that she was alone, Gazelle's tears came down in earnest, quickly soaking her blindfold. As much as she feared for her own life, Gazelle was even more scare that this person might hurt Judy. Of course her mind told her that was silly, as Judy had finished at the top of her class at the Academy, but her doubts and concerns still caused pangs of worry in her heart. Gazelle hadn't recalled Zootopia ever experiencing a criminal like this before, so would the Police Academy know how to train its cadets how to deal with one like him? Would Judy be able to fend off someone who was laying in wait just to kill her. Gazelle wasn't sure, especially since she experienced first hand just how strong this psycho was. Therefore, it was with a trembling heart that she silently prayed that Judy would not be allowed to take the case, which was a definite possibility if the FBI got involved. Failing that, however, Gazelle hoped that this guy was just a little too good in covering up his tracks, that Judy wouldn't find what he'd left behind and thus wouldn't fall into his trap. "Just don't come, Judy! Please" Gazelle sobbed out loud, "Just stay away and save yourself!"


End file.
